text:
Gilles Personne de Roberval
Quick Info
Noël-Saint-Martin, Villeneuve-sur-Verberie, Oise, France
Paris, France
Gilles Roberval's parents were Pierre Personne and Jeanne Le Dru. The obvious question one might ask at this point is why Gilles Roberval's father was not named Roberval. The reason is that Gilles Roberval was named Gilles Personne and this was the name under which he was known for at least the first twenty-five years of his life, only adding the "de Roberval" after 1628. Pierre and Jeanne Personne were of humble origins, living in the village of Roberval, about 50 km north (and a bit east) of Paris. They worked on the land but probably were well enough off to lead a comfortable life. Recent research (in 2003) has shown that Gilles was born in a field at Noël-Saint-Martin, Villeneuve-sur-Verberie, close to Roberval, where his mother was bringing in the harvest. He was baptised the next day and the record of this has been found in the archives of the Oise region. We know that Gilles had a large extended family, had brothers and sisters but only one sister, Marie, outlived him.Gilles began to study mathematics at the age of 14 years when the parish priest of Rhuis, a village just 2 km to the north of Roberval, realised that young Gilles was highly intelligent and began to give him lessons. The parish priest was actually the chaplain to the queen, Marie de Médici, and he not only instructed Gilles Personne in mathematics but also in Latin and probably Greek. At some stage (no record exists to indicate exactly when) he left his home district and travelled widely visiting many places in France. At this time he earned his living teaching mathematics while he discussed advanced topics with university teachers in the towns he visited. Auger writes [2] that he rode from town to town with an ink bottle strapped to the saddle of his horse. On his travels he went to Bordeaux where he met Pierre de Fermat. In September 1627 he was at La Rochelle when King Louis XIII of France, who had declared war on the Huguenots, besieged the town which was the most important of the Huguenot cities of France, and the centre of Huguenot resistance. Gilles Personne, as he was still known at the time, studied both practical and theoretical aspects of the problems of fortifications and ballistics which resulted from this siege.
He arrived in Paris in 1628 and made contact with Marin Mersenne's circle, particularly with Claude Hardy, Claude Mydorge, Étienne Pascal and Blaise Pascal. He became a member of the circle; in fact he later become the only professional mathematician in the group. At around this time, having received permission from the head of the village of Roberval, he added "de Roberval" to his name becoming Gilles Personne de Roberval. We will refer to him as Roberval from this point on. He spent the years from 1628 to 1632 building up his knowledge and skills in mathematics with the aim of getting a position as a professional mathematician. He achieved this in 1632 when he was appointed professor of philosophy in the Collège Gervais in Paris. This was a small institution attached to the university of Paris. It had been founded in the 14th century for students from Bayeux but by the time Roberval was appointed it no longer had that restriction. After he was appointed to the Collège Gervais, Roberval rented accommodation next to the College [5]:-
Roberval moved into rooms there where he resided until the end of his life; he never became a property owner in Paris. He had second floor accommodation comprising simply two rooms which looked into the college courtyard in one direction and the rue Boutebrie in the other. While teaching at the college he prepared himself as a candidate for one of the most prestigious mathematical positions in Paris: the Ramus Chair at the College Royal which fell vacant in 1634 and was to be filled through public competition.Before we consider briefly what Roberval's life in these rooms was like, we need to understand a little of his character. Sturdy writes that [5]:-
... he was of notoriously difficult and irascible temper.More relevant to his life style was his reputation for being mean [5]:-
His apparent reluctance to spend money earned him a reputation as an inveterate miser whose avarice was a by-word among his associates and colleagues. This is not entirely fair, for he was ready to contribute generously to the dowries of his niece and great-niece. On the other hand the items devoted to personal convenience and comfort ... [were] few in number and do convey the impression of somebody whose lifestyle was exceedingly austere.So how did he furnish his two rooms? They had only beds, tables and chairs, and these items were of poor quality. No pictures hung on the walls, and there were no ornaments. However, he did have some books in his rooms by authors such as Euclid, Archimedes, Viète, Torricelli, Gassendi, Descartes, Mersenne, Kepler, Vitruvius, Herodotus, Cicero and Quintillian. He had several dictionaries, books on grammar, and (despite not being a religious man) a Latin Bible. When he died not even a bottle of wine was found in his rooms but a large amount of cash was found, something of the order of eight times his annual salary.
On 24 June 1634 he was declared the winner of the competition for the Ramus Chair, and was appointed to that chair of mathematics in the Collège Royale. This was a competitive appointment and Roberval had to compete for reappointment every three years. In 1655 he was appointed to Gassendi's chair of mathematics at the Collège Royale, in addition to the Ramus chair, and he held both chairs for the rest of his life. The years between 1648 and 1653 were difficult ones for anyone living in Paris with civil wars known as the Frondes. In August 1648 there was insurrection in Paris and the people barricaded the streets. After a siege by the army, the rebellion faded away by the spring of 1649 but civil war erupted again with a battle being fought around Paris in the summer of 1652. By 1653 the civil war ended although a continuing war with the Spanish was still going on. By 1655 Roberval felt that France had achieved peace between its own people and felt confident enough to make a major purchase of land [5]:-
In 1655, when the Frondes had died down, he bought from Pierre de Brûlart, sieur de Coullet, a farm situated at Menerval.Sturdy carries out a calculation in [5] which suggests that Roberval paid a higher price for the farm than one would expect. Perhaps this particular property meant a lot to him and certainly by the end of his life many members of his extended family were living in the area. The farm was mixed, set up for grain production, and had a dairy herd of cattle as well as a beef herd. Roberval brought in extra income by leasing out small plots on his farm to individuals. He employed two managers to run the farm together with a number of labourers. His nephew Antoine Personne lived on the farm and managed it for a number of years. Menerval is, like Roberval's birthplace, north of Paris, but it is further to the west about 80 km from Paris. It was well situated for its produce to be sold in Paris, and also near enough for Roberval to be able to make trips to the farm.
Let us now look at Roberval's contributions to mathematics. It is rather difficult to assess his importance and influence for, although he made outstanding contributions of fundamental importance, he only published two works during his lifetime. These were Traité de mécanique des poids soutenus par des puissances sur des plans inclinés à l'horizontale Ⓣ (1636) and Le système du monde d'après Aristarque de Samos Ⓣ (1644). One might reasonably ask why, given that he produced such a large quantity of innovative mathematics, he published so little. We do not know the answer to this question for certain, but one likely theory is that he wanted to keep his discoveries out of the public domain so that he could use the material in the three-yearly competitions for the Ramus Chair [3]:-
Candidates were required not only to lecture, but also to demonstrate theorems and solve problems put to them by all comers; as result, the practice grew up of the incumbent trying to ensure his re-appointment by proposing problems which only he could solve.Whatever the reason for the lack of publications during his lifetime, quite a lot of his work was published in Divers ouvrages de mathématique et de la physique par messieurs de l'Académie Royale des Sciences Ⓣ in 1693. Most of Roberval's material in this 1693 publication was at least fifty years old, so it did not have the impact that it would have done had it been published shortly after being written. Other texts have been published much later, for example Eléments de géométrie Ⓣ in 1996, and other material has not yet been published (and perhaps never will be published) such as his courses on astronomy, surveying, architecture and physical geography.
Roberval developed powerful methods in an early study of integration, writing Traité des indivisibles Ⓣ which he claimed was based on Archimedes and not Cavalieri. It was published as part of Divers ouvrages de mathématique et de la physique par messieurs de l'Académie Royale des Sciences Ⓣ (1693). In it he computed the definite integral of a rational power of and of . Computing the integral of allowed him to solve the problem:-
Trace on a right cylinder, with a single motion of the compass, a surface equal to that of a given square.He was (rightly) very proud of having solved this problem and, using similar techniques, he was the first to square the surface of the oblique cone in 1644. He worked on the cycloid computing its quadrature before 1636 and he also computed the cubature of the solid it generates by rotating it about its base. He compared the lengths of curves, a topic not considered since the times of the ancient Greeks, equating the spiral and parabola in their ordinary forms. Before August 1648 he had discovered the equality of the length of the generalised cycloid and the ellipse. This means that he solved the problem before Blaise Pascal, who receives the credit for achieving this first in 1659. He computed the arc of the cycloid before 1640 by reducing the problem to the integration of the sine. He therefore solved this problem before Torricelli who found a solution after 1644. He also computed the arc length of a spiral.
In addition to his discoveries on plane curves, Roberval is important for his method of drawing the tangent to a curve, already suggested by Torricelli. This method of drawing tangents makes Roberval the founder of kinematic geometry. He writes:-
By means of the specific properties of the curved line, examine the various movements made by the point which describes it at the location where you wish to draw the tangent: from all these movements compose a single one; draw the line of direction of the composed movement, and you will have the tangent of the curved line.He developed this method of computing tangents while working on the cycloid some time before 1636. At first he kept this discovery a secret, but he taught the method between 1639 and 1644. Roberval wrote a treatise on algebra and one of analytic geometry which appeared in his posthumous 1693 publication. He certainly introduced algebraic methods into solving geometric problems before René Descartes did, but although he deserves credit for this nevertheless he did not produce Cartesian geometry.
However, some of his most important contributions were in the area of mechanics. Here is most impressive work was the discovery of the law of composition of forces in 1636. He discovered this general principle while studying a body suspended by two strings. In 1647 he wrote to Torricelli about his discoveries in mechanics (see for example [1]):-
We have constructed mechanics which is new from its foundation to its roof, having rejected, save for a small number, the ancient stones with which it had been built.He then went on to give Torricelli an overview of an intended new eight-volume work on mechanics. The content was planned as follows: Book I, On the centre of action of forces in general; Book II, On the balance, Book III, On the centre of action of particular forces; Book IV, On the chord; Book V, On instruments and machines; Book VI, On the forces which act within certain media; Book VII, On compound movements; Book VIII, On the centre of percussion of moving forces. The treatise has never been found and probably was never written, but parts of each of the eight books exists in Roberval's manuscripts.
We mentioned above that Le système du monde d'après Aristarque de Samos Ⓣ (1644) was one of only two publications by Roberval in his lifetime. In this work he praises Aristarchus's heliocentric system but he did not totally reject Ptolemy's earth centered system with the sun and planets circling the earth, or Tycho Brahe's system which has the earth at the centre, but has the planets circling a sun which circles the earth. Roberval writes in the Preface:-
Perhaps all three of these systems are false and the true one unknown. Still, that of Aristarchus seemed to me to be the simplest and the best adapted to the laws of nature.It is interesting to see that Roberval believes in universal attraction well before it was proposed by Isaac Newton:-
In all this worldly matter, and in each of its parts, resides a certain property by the force of which this matter contracts into a single continuous body.In 1666 Roberval was one of a group of scientists making astronomical observations from Jean-Baptiste Colbert's Paris residence. In addition to Roberval the others involved were Christiaan Huygens, Pierre de Carcavi, Adrien Auzout, Bernard Frénicle de Bessy and Jacques Buot. In many ways this can be seen as a meeting of the Académie Royale des Sciences before its official foundation. Colbert, who was the French Minister of Finance, chose the small group who met in the King's Library on 22 December 1666, which was the founding meeting of the Académie Royale des Sciences. Roberval was one of these founding members and went on to play an important role as an enthusiastic and energetic member of the Academy in is early years [5]:-
He read papers on various subjects four times in 1667, nineteen times in 1668 and twice in 1669; nine other contributions are recorder during these years. Again, when a German inventor approached Colbert in 1668 with the offer of a secret machine which would solve the problem of calculating the longitude, Roberval was one of a small committee appointed by Colbert to examine the claim (the others were Auzout, Carcavi, Huygens, Picard and a senior naval officer). As a senior member of the Académie des Sciences he made an outstanding contribution to its early activities, bringing to its deliberations an enthusiasm and forcefulness ...In 1669 he invented the 'Roberval balance' which is now almost universally used for weighing scales of the balance type. He presented details to the Academy on 21 August of that year. He also worked with Jean Picard in cartography and wrote on mapping France. He worked on one of the big questions of the day, whether a vacuum could exist, and designed apparatus which was used by Blaise Pascal in his experiments. In a report written on 20 September 1647 he confirmed Pascal's experiments on the vacuum above an inverted column of mercury in a tube. He explained the suspension of mercury in the tube by the pressure of air on the exterior mercury.
Jacqueline Pascal, the sister of Blaise Pascal, wrote a letter on 25 September 1647 in which she describes a meeting between Roberval and Descartes. The latter did not believe in the existence of a vacuum [4]:-
... they began to discuss the problem of the vacuum. Monsieur Descartes became particularly serious on the subject. The others explained a recent experiment to him and asked him what he thought entered into the space of the emptied tube. He said that it was his "subtle matter". My brother [Blaise Pascal] responded to this theory as best he could. Believing that my brother was having some difficulty expressing himself, Monsieur de Roberval took on Monsieur Descartes with not a little passion - although he remained civil. Monsieur Descartes responded rather bitterly that he could speak to my brother as long as he desired because my brother spoke reasonably but that he wouldn't continue to talk with Monsieur de Roberval, because the latter spoke out of too many prejudices. With that, he glanced at his watch and saw that it was noon. He stood up, because he had a dinner date in the Faubourg Saint-Germain. Monsieur de Roberval also had a date in the same neighbourhood. So Monsieur Descartes led him over to a carriage where the two of them were alone. They appeared to be joking with each other, but there was a bit of an edge to their humour, as Monsieur de Roberval confirmed after he returned from dinner ...We see from this letter the friction between Roberval and Descartes. Not only did they argue over scientific issues, but they also showed a strong mutual dislike of each other. As well as meeting with other scientists in Paris, Roberval also corresponded regularly with Pierre de Fermat and with Evangelista Torricelli until his death in 1647. He had some close friends such as Abbé Gallois who was the editor of Le Journal des Sçavans from 1665 to 1674, secretary of the Academy in 1668 and 1669 and later professor of Mathematics and Greek at the Collège de France. Other close friends included Pierre de Carcavi and Desnoyers, the Queen Mother's Secretary.
References (show)
- K Hara, Biography in Dictionary of Scientific Biography (New York 1970-1990).
See THIS LINK. - L Auger, Un savant méconnu : Gilles Personne de Roberval (1602-1675) : son activité intellectuelle dans les domaines mathématique, physique, mécanique et philosophique (Librairie Scientifique A. Blanchard, Paris, 1962).
- N Malcolm, Aspects of Hobbes (Oxford University Press, Oxford, 2002).
- J Pascal and J J Conley, A Rule for Children and Other Writings (University of Chicago Press, Chicago, 2003).
- D J Sturdy, Science and Social Status : The Members of the Academie des Sciences 1666-1750 (Boydell & Brewer, 1995).
- L Auger, Polémique entre Descartes et Gilles Personne de Roberval, Thalès 6 (1949-1950), 59-67.
- J A N de Condorcet, Eloge de Roberval, Oeuvres de Condorcet II (Paris, 1847), 5-12.
- P Dupont, Concetti probabilistici in Roberval, Pascal e Fermat, Rend. Sem. Mat. Univ. e Politec. Torino 34 (1975/76), 235-245.
- L S Freiman, Fermat, Torricelli, Roberval (Russian), in Sources of classical science : a collection of articles 'Nauka' Moscow, 1968), 173-254.
- K Hara, Quelques ouvrages de géométrie more veterum de Roberval. II, Historia Sci. (2) 2 (2) (1992), 109-117.
- K Hara, Quelques ouvrages de géométrie more veterum de Roberval. I, Historia Sci. (2) 2 (1) (1992), 13-44.
- T Hayashi, Introducing movement into geometry: Roberval's influence on Leibniz's analysis situs, Historia Sci. (2) 8 (1) (1998), 53-69.
- J E Hofmann, A propos d'un problème de Roberval, Rev. Hist. Sci. Appl. 5 (1952), 312-333.
- B Hughes, The companion curves of Gilles Personne de Roberval, Cubo Mat. Educ. 4 (2) (2002), 43-57.
- J Itard, La lettre de Torricelli à Roberval d'octobre 1643, Rev. Histoire Sci. Appl. 28 (2) (1975), 113-124.
- V Jullien, Descartes-Roberval, une relation tumultueuse, in 'Pour Descartes': mathématiques et physique cartésiennes, Paris, 1996, Rev. Histoire Sci. 51 (2-3) (1998), 363-371.
- V Jullien, L'existence du plan dans les 'Eléments de géométrie' de Roberval, in Un parcours en histoire des mathématiques : travaux et recherches (Nantes, 1993), 41-73.
- V Jullien, Les étendues géométriques et la ligne droite de Roberval, Rev. Histoire Sci. 46 (4) (1993), 493-521.
- C J Scriba, Bemerkungen zu einem zahlentheoretischen Problem von Roberval, Nova Acta Leopoldina (N.F.) 27 (1963), 339-349.
- V Vita, Gli indivisibili di Roberval, Archimede 25 (1973), 38-46.
- P R Wolfson, The crooked made straight: Roberval and Newton on tangents, Amer. Math. Monthly 108 (3) (2001), 206-216.
Additional Resources (show)
Other pages about Gilles Roberval:
Other websites about Gilles Roberval:
Honours (show)
Honours awarded to Gilles Roberval
Cross-references (show)
- History Topics: A history of the calculus
- History Topics: Infinity
- History Topics: Perfect numbers
- Famous Curves: Cissoid of Diocles
- Famous Curves: Cycloid
- Famous Curves: Folium of Descartes
- Famous Curves: Limacon of Pascal
- Famous Curves: Right Strophoid
- Societies: Paris Academy of Sciences
- Other: 24th June
- Other: Earliest Known Uses of Some of the Words of Mathematics (A)
- Other: Earliest Known Uses of Some of the Words of Mathematics (F)
- Other: Earliest Known Uses of Some of the Words of Mathematics (I)
- Other: Earliest Known Uses of Some of the Words of Mathematics (L)
- Other: Earliest Known Uses of Some of the Words of Mathematics (T)
- Other: Jeff Miller's postage stamps
Written by J J O'Connor and E F Robertson
Last Update December 2008
Last Update December 2008


text:
A payday loan by any other name is still a raw deal for consumers. That's the message watchdog groups have in response to the growing number of short-term, high-cost loans being offered by banks and even credit unions. Since regulatory changes have cracked down on other bank moneymakers like overdraft and interchange fees, financial institutions are looking for new revenue streams. The result is that payday loans are now going mainstream.
"Overall, it's pretty dangerous that banks are getting into this business," says Lauren Bowne, staff attorney at Consumers Union. "Payday loans have proven to be a relatively unsafe product. There's no underwriting done and the interest rates are absolutely astronomical when annualized," she says.
An article in the Los Angeles Times notes that major banks such as Wells Fargo now offer payday loans. Even a bank spokeswoman quoted by the paper admits these loans are "an expensive form of credit."
(GALLERY: 8 Celebrity-Endorsed Financial Products We Wouldn't Buy — Montel Williams for MoneyMutual)
Many institutions that now offer payday loans call them something else, or may classify them as a line of credit instead of a loan, but advocates say the semantics don't obscure the true nature of these products. "It walks and talks just like a payday loan," says Kathleen Day, spokeswoman for the Center for Responsible Lending, adding that she wants regulators to treat them as such.
Earlier this year, Consumer Financial Protection Bureau director Richard Cordray promised that the agency will take a closer look at payday loan business practices. The CFPB wants to make sure customers aren't getting taken for a ride on what they believe will be a short-term fix to a cash-flow crunch.
(MORE: A Long To-Do List Awaits the CFPB and Its New Director)
CRL's Day says that the short-term nature of payday loans is deceiving; the duration masks the fact that the cost of the loan is equivalent to triple-digit APRs, and many borrowers find that these loans rope them into months' worth of debt a few weeks at a time. It's typical for repaying the loan to cost more than twice as much as the original amount borrowed.
Advocates are especially concerned about the adoption of payday loan programs by credit unions. In the wake of consumer ire over big bank fees, many of them turned to credit unions. "I think people have an innate trust of credit unions," Bowne says. Offering payday loans that trap people in a cycle of debt could rapidly erode that trust. "It really legitimizes this dangerous, fringe financial product," she says.

subset: commoncrawl


text:
Chancellor Angela Merkel is likely to pick a new coalition partner this week before moving on to detailed negotiations that could produce a new German government within about two months.
While the rest of the Europe waiting for clarity in its pivotal economy, Merkel has moved slowly since the Sept. 22 election towards making a deal with her two potential partners. She meets the Social Democrats on Monday and the Greens on Tuesday.
Merkel's Christian Democratic Union (CDU) and its Bavarian sister party, the Christian Social Union (CSU), emerged as the dominant force from the election but, with 311 of the 631 seats in the Bundestag (lower house), they lack a majority.
She had a first round of preliminary talks last week with the SPD, the largest opposition party with 193 seats, and the Greens, the smallest with 63 seats. No decisions were reached and neither party showed much desire to join her after her last partners, the Free Democrats, failed to win enough votes to remain in parliament.
The battered SPD is seen as Merkel's most likely ally, in a revival of the right-left 'grand coalition' that ruled from 2005-09. But Germany's oldest party is split on whether to join Merkel again after seeing its support crumble as her junior partner before.
"Monday's talks will be of decisive importance to answer the question of whether there is a stable foundation for full coalition negotiations," said SPD deputy leader Andrea Nahles.
The possibility that talks could take months worries Germany's European partners, who fear the negotiations could delay decisions on measures to fight the euro zone crisis - such as a plan for banking union.
Merkel has kept the option of a coalition with the Greens alive, despite resistance from the CSU. Tensions are high between the CSU and the Greens, a left-leaning party with roots in the 1970s peace and anti-nuclear movements.
Although the CDU/CSU-Greens coalition is considered less likely, Merkel, a former environment minister, has nurtured the idea for years and promoted conservative lawmakers open to a new fangled alliance with the old political enemy.
She may need the Greens if the SPD baulks. SPD leaders have promised the party's 472,000 grassroots members, many opposed to another coalition with Merkel, the chance to vote on any government agreement - an unprecedented and risky plan that could backfire.
The SPD wants a national minimum wage in Germany, where there is currently none, and higher income taxes on the rich, demands that the CDU/CSU reject. The SPD said on Sunday that there would be no deal without a minimum wage.
The CDU/CSU would get more ministries and more of its policy aims into a coalition with the smaller Greens party, which shared power with the SPD from 1998 to 2005, than with the SPD.
By keeping the option of a coalition with the Greens open, Merkel hopes to have strengthened her hand in talks with the SPD.
"I didn't have the feeling that Merkel was only talking to us for strategic reasons," Greens parliamentary leader Katrin Goering-Eckardt told Bild am Sonntag newspaper. "We'll talk at length with her again on Tuesday."


text:
In the last decade, the emergence of Presentation/PowerPoint Designer roles has skyrocketed from the darkened corner of Desktop Publishing (DTP) to the heights of keynote speeches and world-viewed presentations as well as touched on practically every design discipline in-between. The niche lovechild of DTP and Graphic Design, Presentation Design, now sits on the precipice of becoming the newest specialization in Graphic Design.
The history of graphic design has seen the development of three major disciplines each of which have various levels of overlap. Of the three key disciplines, the print-based design was the first and oldest. The next development was motion design with the earliest examples being the Phenakistoscope and then the animated flipbook in the early-to-mid 1800s. As the century ended, there was an explosion of interest in motion and animation design which then thrived for the next 100 years and now every time you turn on a TV, you are bombarded with motion design, everything from the intro reel of your favorite news channel to the credits at the end of a movie. The third discipline, Interactive Design, evolved broadly with the advent of computing. The user not only watched motion or looked at print, but could also interact with it by giving commands or prompts. The first broad use of interactive design was in the mid-to-late 1900s with early computer systems. As computers became more sophisticated and operating systems were designed and improved upon, the visual design became more and more important. This was the first boom in interactive design, with early operating systems leading the way. As the World Wide Web developed, this form of design branched out and exploded across the world, every website is an interactive design, every program on your computer (including PowerPoint) is an example of this design discipline. In fact, anyone reading this article either on a phone or on a computer is engaging in at least 3 levels of interactive design.
The development and emergence of these disciplines of design have been largely chronological, however, the big question that is most relevant to us today is: where does Presentation Design sit? After discussions with many people from these disciplines, there is a feeling that Presentation Design sits outside the scope of Graphic Design altogether. I've met many professional and highly skilled Graphic Designers across all these disciplines who will simply not touch Presentations. Why? Because there is a significant stigma associated with working within the programs available to create presentations (PowerPoint, Keynote, Prezi, etc.). Some blame lack of features, some blame inexperience, some blame operability, but ultimately it stems from the elitism of specialist Graphic Design software and the 'commonness' of Presentation Design software.
I see PowerPoint a little differently. I see it as a tool that can encompass all of these design aspects. Admittedly, there are pros and cons of using PowerPoint as a tool to produce each of these designs, however, show me a program that allows you to display on one screen your design, which encompasses the principles of print design, then seamlessly integrates animation into the design all the while allowing the end user to navigate them, or allowing a pilot to navigate an audience through a non-linear presentation based on the needs of the audience, all whilst being a program that is included in the world's most famous productivity suite of applications and on over 500 million computers worldwide. Nearly everyone with a computer has PowerPoint. Anyone can open the program, create some slides, some bullet points and press 'Start Slideshow'. This does not make them a Presentation Designer. The hurdle we need to overcome is not introducing Presentation Design to the world, the hurdle is to show the world what Presentation Design SHOULD be.
The good news is that a Presentation Designer is always in relatively high demand. Industry demand will only ever grow for this service as pitches and inter-business presentations become so competitive many companies are moving from 'getting whoever knows how to use PowerPoint in the office' to 'getting a professional with knowledge of audience communication and best practice in designing for these circumstances'.
The big question is, will the Graphic Design industry eventually accept Presentation Design (and by extension, PowerPoint) as a new specialization? What do you think? Let's get the conversation started.
Email me and firstname.lastname@example.com with your thoughts.
About Tom Howell:
Tom Howell is a PowerPoint designer and the founder of Synapsis Creative, a boutique presentation design agency. Tom started his career as a designer for multiple disciplines and specialized in PowerPoint 10 years ago, and has never looked back. With a talent for animation and interactivity, his work has been featured on Microsoft's webinar series on PowerPoint and in multiple online magazines and articles. He regularly speaks at conferences and seminars and is a key figure for presentation design in the industry. His clients come from an array of different industries. Tom loves the challenges and successes that are achievable in PowerPoint and lives to make presentations stand out for all the right reasons.
Don't miss my "Dishing on Presentations" conversation with Tom Howell. It is engaging and packed full of presentation wisdom from "down under". Click here to watch


text:
Discussion of the U.S Springfield 1903 and it's variants.
Normal Threads
Use this control to limit the display of threads to those newer than the specified time frame.
Allows you to choose the data by which the thread list will be sorted.
Order threads in...
Note: when sorting by date, 'descending order' will show the newest results first.
Forum Rules


text:
N.H. Homeschoolers Praise Vote Against Tighter Regulations
The New Hampshire House of Representatives on Wednesday rejected a bill that would tightly regulate homsechooling.
The state House voted 324-34 against changes to the current law.
"Winning by such a significant margin is welcome relief for New Hampshire homeschool families," said Mike Donnelly, staff attorney for Home School Legal Defense Association.
The bill was sponsored by Rep. Judith Day who felt the current homeschooling law required too little accountability. Under the proposed legislation, parents or legal guardians would be required to submit in writing their intention to educate their child; keep a portfolio of the homeschooled child's work and log of reading materials; and have an annual evaluation demonstrating educational progress commensurate with the child's age and ability. Evaluations would also be more strictly regulated.
Current law requires that parents provide yearly results of either the test or an evaluation of the child's portfolio, not both. And parents who are certified or private school teachers can write their own evaluations.
Day argued that under current law, administrators do not have sufficient information to determine whether a home education program needs remediation or should continue. She noted that greater accountability would not be excessively burdensome to parents.
But parents opposed amending the current law, and interpreted the changes as government interference with family affairs. They expressed their opposition through rallies and calls and letters to legislators.
Rep. Barbara Shaw, who has 45 years of teaching experience, and a majority of a bi-partisan legislative study committee recommended that the bill is "Inexpedient to Legislate."
"After studying this issue for several years I've gotten to know homeschoolers, the law, and how the system works and I'm convinced that it is working fine," Shaw said, according to the Home School Legal Defense Association. "There are no changes needed.
"Some people have accused me of doing a 180 on homeschooling – and I would have to admit that's true. But that's because I've seen that homeschooling is working for children in our state and the current law is adequate."
A recent comprehensive study, conducted by the National Home Education Research Institute, found that homeschoolers scored 34-39 percentile points higher than the norm on standardized achievement tests. Also, homeschooled boys and girls scored equally well.


text:
Nunu, the beloved dog of Jorge Garcia and Bethany Shady, died last month just as they all were preparing to leave Hawaii. Nunu had her own share of fans, and even appeared in an episode of "LOST" this season. We sent our condolences, and memorialized Nunu at the Memorial Day lantern floating ceremony the next day. But I felt the "LOST" fan community could do more.
Taking inspiration from Jo, I'd like to encourage "LOST" fans to pay tribute to Nunu by making a donation in her name to the Hawaiian Humane Society. If you donate $10 or more, we'll send you a limited-edition pin from the "Sunset on the Beach" premiere of "LOST" in January.
Most of the people at the "Sunset on the Beach" event didn't get these, whereas T-shirts were in abundant supply. But thanks to a generous benefactor, we have dozens available for this special cause. You can get a pin for every $10 donated, and you can have your pin sent to a friend as a gift… while supplies last!
Need more convincing? Here's a video montage of Nunu that Jorge and Beth made in 2006:
Support the good work of the Hawaiian Humane Society and leave a great island legacy for Nunu. Donate here, and email us your receipt. Of course, be sure to include your mailing address. Mahalo for your consideration.


text:
The data element represents a property within a DITA topic or map. While the data element can be used directly to capture properties, it is particularly useful as a basis for specialization. Default processing should treat the content as an unknown kind of metadata and ignore it for rendering, but custom processing might match the name attribute or specialized element and use the element for automated manipulation or to format data associated with the body flow. For example, a specialized data element might be used to format properties as sidebars or other adornments or to harvest properties for automated processing.
The subject of the property is ordinarily the container of the data element. In the content model for the prolog and metadata elements, the property applies to the topic as a whole. In the topicmeta element, the property applies to the referenced topic. The data-about element can be used to identify the subject of the property with an explicit reference.
The name attribute names the property for processes. A title subelement can provide a label for the property. The datatype attribute can be used to identify the type for the value. The value of the property can be any of the following:
- A simple text value expressed with the value attribute or textual content.
- A reference to either DITA content or a non-DITA resource expressed with the href attribute.
- An image or other non-textual object.
- A brief unit of descriptive text that is not part of the body text flow.
- A complex structure composed of nested data elements.
The data element can be nested to create structures for complex properties. The name attribute might be used to distinguish different semantics associated with different instances of the data element such as addresses, times, amounts, and so on. In many cases, however, it is preferable to specialize the data element for more precise semantics, structures, and values. For instance, a specialization can specify an enumeration for the value attribute.
A data element containing properties of a topic as a whole should be located in the topic's prolog or metadata element, or in a topicmeta element related to a topicref that references the topic. The data element generally goes at the beginning of the element to which the properties in it refer. Where this is unwieldy, the data element can go in the prolog, with the data-about element identifying which specific element in the topic is the reference.
Content models
See appendix for information about this element in OASIS document type shells.
- topic/data
Uses of the data element can include the following:
- Complex metadata properties such as bibliographic records corresponding to citations.
- Hybrid documents with data values as part of the content, such as word processor formats using form fields.
- Messages in which the payload includes human-readable content. Such applications can use the data element to define the addressing on the message envelope. For instance, a topic could model an email message by representing the address with specialized data elements in the prolog element and the content with the body element.
- Transactional documents in which the values are processed but also displayed with human-readable content. In particular, a library of building blocks for transaction documents can be implemented through a DITA domain as specialized data elements including those from the UN/CEFACT Core Components Technical Specification (http://www.unece.org/cefact/).
This structure identifies the library and version demonstrated by a code sample. The name attribute is used to identify both the grouping data element and the nested data elements that provide specific properties. These properties will not appear in the output unless a processor is customized to recognize these name attribute values.
<codeblock> <data name="exampleOf"> <data name="library" href="ajaxLibrary.js"/> <data name="version" value="2006-6-19"/> </data>  </codeblock>
The following example specifies the delimited source code for a code fragment so an automated process can refresh the code fragment. The fragmentSource, sourceFile, startDelimiter, and endDelimiter elements are specialized from data but the codeFragment is specialized from codeblock. The properties specialized from data would not appear in formatted output unless a processor is explicitly instructed to display them:
<example> <title>An important coding technique</title> <codeFragment> <fragmentSource> <sourceFile value="helloWorld.java"/> <startDelimiter value="FRAGMENT_START_1"/> <endDelimiter value="FRAGMENT_END_1"/> </fragmentSource>  </codeFragment> </example>
The following example identifies a real estate property as part of a house description. The realEstateProperty element and its child elements are specialized from data. The houseDescription element is specialized from section. A specialized process can format the values as part of a brochure if they meet criteria for inclusion.
<houseDescription> <title>A great home for sale</title> <realEstateProperty> <realEstateBlock value="B7"/> <realEstateLot value="4003"/>  </realEstateProperty>
This elegant....
 <object data="B7_4003_tour360Degrees.swf"/> </houseDescription>
The following attributes are available on this element: Data element attributes group, Link relationship attribute group, Universal attribute group, keyref, and outputclass.


text:
A typhoon initially feared to be among the worst in 50 years weakened on a course to southern China after killing at least nine people in Taiwan and stranding hundreds more.
Typhoon Megi was set to hit China's Fujian province as a Category 1 typhoon, down from a 3 on a 1-5 severity scale, by Saturday and then fade to a tropical storm, forecasting service said.
It would miss world financial center Hong Kong and the industry-rich Pearl River Delta.
"It's showing signs of weakening," said Lee Tsz-cheung, a senior scientific officer with the Hong Kong Observatory. "We expect the intensity will gradually decrease until it makes landfall and decreases further."
Earlier, record rains from a powerful typhoon caused massive landslides in Taiwan that buried a Buddhist temple and trapped vehicles on a highway, where one bus carrying 19 Chinese tourists was missing Friday.
The mudslide at the temple killed nine people, and a total of 23 people were missing in Taiwan as Typhoon Megi swept toward southern China, where landfall was expected later Saturday. The storm earlier killed 26 people and damaged homes and crops in the Philippines.
Megi dumped a record 45 inches of rain in Taiwan's Ilan county over 48 hours. It had winds of 90 miles per hour and was about 275 miles southeast of Hong Kong on Friday evening, the Hong Kong Observatory said.
Nine people, including two Buddhist nuns, were killed at the White Cloud Temple in Suao city along the eastern coast when a mudslide buried the building, the Central Emergency Operations Center said Saturday.
Two buses carrying Chinese tourists were on a six-mile stretch of a coastal highway in Ilan that was hit by at least seven rockslides Thursday night, Premier Wu Den-yih said. Nineteen people on one bus were rescued — five with light to moderate injuries — but the Taiwanese driver and the Chinese tour guide were still missing, Wu said.
There had been no contact with the driver, tour guide and 19 tourists aboard the other bus, he said. News reports Saturday cited a rescued traveler as saying he spotted a bus being hit by a boulder and falling into the sea. It is not immediately clear if the vehicle was the missing bus.
Officials said a 500-yard stretch of the highway had collapsed. The rockslides trapped about 30 vans, buses and cars, they said.
Air force helicopters were searching for the missing bus, while all other stranded travelers had been rescued by early Saturday, Interior Minister Chiang Yi-hua said.
The storm dumped heavy rains throughout Taiwan, but Ilan, about 90 miles southeast of Taipei, was the hardest hit. Authorities said more than 2,500 residents had been evacuated. Broad swaths of farmland in the county were under many feet of water.
Earlier this week, Megi killed more than two dozen people and damaged thousands of homes in the northern Philippines. The storm also forced 55,000 Filipinos from their homes and caused about $175 million in damage to infrastructure and crops, disaster officials said.
Megi was expected to hit China's southern Guangdong and Fujian provinces between Friday night and Saturday, meteorologists said.
In Fujian, authorities said 161,800 people were evacuated to safer places.
An official in Guangdong's Shantou city said fishermen were told to return to ports and authorities designated some 200 buildings in the city as emergency shelters.
"This kind of strong typhoon is very rare for this season in Shantou. We are treating it as a 'super strong typhoon' and making our preparations accordingly," said a relief official who only gave his surname, Chen.
In Vietnam, the death toll from severe flooding in four central provinces climbed to 75, including 14 victims from a bus swept off a road by strong currents, with six passengers still missing, disaster officials said Friday.
While Megi bypassed Vietnam, the country's central region was pummeled by 4.6 feet of rain over the past week, inundating large swaths of land, submerging nearly 280,000 houses and forcing more than 170,000 villagers from their homes.
Meanwhile, another storm, Cyclone Giri, was spinning in the Bay of Bengal and likely to make landfall Saturday in western Myanmar. The storm was expected to hit with winds of 75 mph and a tidal surge as high as 12 feet.
Cyclone Nargis in 2008 killed 130,000 people in Myanmar.


text:
Does Father's Day Discourage You?
Norman Fried writes about the value of fatherhood. He acknowledges that the feelings surrounding Father's Day are varied.
For some, it leaves us anxious, as we recall the man who couldn't be there when we needed him, or the man who is not here now when we need him the most. For others, it stimulates feelings of gratitude as we honor the times we had with our father by our side. There are some among us who never knew our father; others who have not yet separated and, thus, never had to learn to say goodbye. Regardless of our own individual story, we are, all of us, reminded at this time every year just how important fatherhood is; how lives are shaped, and paths are forged, through the direction and guidance of a man older and wiser.
What if you are in the category of those made anxious by their fathers, or afraid? What if Father's Day and the whole idea of fatherhood leave you feeling hollow and you just wish you could forget you even had a dad?
To you, John Piper offered this encouragement in a Father's Day sermon two decades ago:
I want to make clear from the outset that the sadness many may feel at never having had a father like the father I will describe, and the sadness others may feel at never having been a father like the father I will describe—that sadness can be swallowed up and overcome with joy...because God offers his fatherhood to anyone who will accept the gift of adoption by trusting Christ and yielding to be led by the Holy Spirit.
And he gave this exhortation to dads:
[Children] ought to see in their human father a reflection—albeit imperfect—of the heavenly Father in his strength and tenderness, in his wrath and mercy, in his exaltation and condescension, in his surpassing wisdom and patient guidance. The task of every human father is to be for his children an image of the Father in heaven.
Some dads show their kids what it's like to have God as their father; others don't. But regardless of the successes and failures of our dads, God's fatherhood is an extraordinary gift to us. As we honor our earthly fathers tomorrow, let's celebrate even more that we are in God's family and children of a perfect father.


text:
I'm looking for a simple English translation of Gita, but it should be scholarly at the same time, like it should have word to word translations in both Sanskrit and English. I came across a few, like the ones by Gambhirananda and Nikhilananda but they don't have any word to word translation. Then i found the one by ChidbhaNanda, where each words are translated in both Sanskrit & English but the language is a bit tough for a guy like me who's new to hinduism.
The only Gita which has simple fluid English which any layman could understand and also has word to word translation, is the one by Prabhupada. But im more interested in having a Gita from advaitic point of view.


text:
The classic VOX Teardrop and Phantom basses gained numerous followers since their release in the 1960s.
Melville, NY (September 4, 2012) – VOX Amplification announces the Apache Series of bass guitars. The classic VOX Teardrop and Phantom basses gained numerous followers since their release in the 1960s. VOX has now re-visited these enduring designs in the all new Apache Series travel basses. The Apache1 Bass offers the iconic Teardrop body shape while the Apache 2 Bass features the Phantom body style. All models boast an onboard amplification system and four colorful finishes that complement their distinctive design.
These basses are outfitted with a complete bass amp containing a full-sounding VOX 4" speaker that offers two powerful sound variations: Normal and Bright. A full complement of Gain, Tone, and Master Volume controls provides access to a wide range of tones. Powered by AA batteries, the built-in amp will run for approximately 26 hours. The Apache basses also contain a total of 66 built-in rhythm patterns. In addition to providing accompaniment, these patterns are ideal for rhythm training or for backstage warm-up before a concert.
The Apache 1 Bass is available in White; Seafoam; Salmon Red and 3-Tone Sunburst, while the Apache 2 Bass is available in White; Seafoam; Salmon Red and Black. All models will be available in November 2012, for a U.S. Street price of $349.00.
For more information:


text:
As J.C. Penney gets hit with more and more bad news, Chicago-based research firm Morningstar has published a report on the potential impact of J.C. Penney store closings on existing CMBS loans.
Morningstar researchers estimate that there are approximately 262 unpaid CMBS loans that are secured by properties where J.C. Penney is one of the three anchor tenants. The department store chain occupies 100 percent of GLA at four of the properties on the list, 50 percent of GLA at 13 properties and approximately 26 percent of GLA at 95 properties.
What's more, 98 of the CMBS loans that are secured by properties occupied by J.C. Penney stores are already on Morningstar's watch list, including 38 loans that are specially-serviced. In addition, 13 of the properties involved in the securitizations are less than 80 percent occupied today and 26 properties expect J.C. Penney lease expirations this year. Morningstar projects that 20 of the latter properties will experience occupancy of less than 80 percent if J.C. Penney decides not to renew its leases.
"Although its continued financial troubles have yet to prompt the company to announce a new round of store closures, we do have concerns about the ongoing viability of the business operations," Morningstar's report reads. "As an example of such, a recent report suggest that the J.C. Penney located at the Palm Beach Mall in Palm Beach, Fla. is set to close on May 1, 2013. The mall secures a specially-serviced loan in JPC03PM1. The $44.1 million loan has been in special servicing since April 2009, when occupancy declined to 69 percent and former owner Simon Properties walked away from the loan. A loss of up to $20 million is expected."


text:
There are more than 18,000 people in Arizona who have been diagnosed with HIV according to the Arizona Department of Health Services. Montez Shelby is hoping to be one of the success stories, thanks to an award-winning Maricopa County program.
"Project HHHOME has helped me get back on my feet," he said. "I'm just thankful it's around. I don't know what I would've done without the program."
Project HHHOME helps people living with HIV get stable housing, education for employment and medical services, while helping treat their HIV so the disease is no longer transmissible.
"Viral suppression is our ultimate goal," said Rose Conner, the outgoing operations program manager for Project HHHOME.
Conner added that a person is considered virally suppressed when their HIV has been treated and is no longer transmissible to others.
The Public Health Department's Ryan White Part A Program partnered with the City of Phoenix and several community-based organizations that specialize in housing to launch Project HHHOME last October. The name is an acronym for "Housing, HIV, Health Outcomes and EmployMEnt/Education."
According to Conner, the decision to have the program focus on housing came after they discovered that clients without a stable home had a tougher time managing their HIV. Clients with an unstable housing situation had a 49% viral suppression rate compared to 80% for those with stable housing.
"Housing is healthcare," said Conner, "And by providing that stable house, the clients have a much greater chance of becoming virally suppressed, helping us end the HIV epidemic, which is our ultimate goal."
The program houses 61 participants, including five families.
Shelby said the program has set him up for success, including the necessary resources to be successful after he completes Project HHHOME.
""They've given me a stable place to live, and with that, I've been able work on my credit score and pay off bills," Shelby said.
In order to stay in the program, participants have to get tested every six months and provide lab results, stay in medical care and be working or in an education program to help them get a job.
According to Project HHHOME's first test in April, 75% of participants in the program have virally suppressed their HIV.
"This comes down to good government," said incoming operations program manager, Carmen Batista. "It's not ok that people are sick or more likely to die because they don't have adequate housing."
Project HHHOME is one of 31 award-winning programs in Maricopa County to be recognized with a National Achievement Award from the National Association of Counties (NACo) in 2019. The NACo Achievement Awards highlight programs that have achieved measurable results worth sharing nationwide.


text:
VATICAN CITY—Few people have considered how communities and nations actually tolerate and encourage human trafficking, particularly as it relates to prostitution, Pope Francis said.
Modern forms of slavery "are far more widespread than previously imagined, even — to our scandal and shame — within the most prosperous of our societies," the pope said Feb. 9 during a meeting with an international group of law enforcement and church workers.
"God's cry to Cain, found in the first pages of the Bible — 'Where is your brother?' — challenges us to examine seriously the various forms of complicity by which society tolerates, and encourages, particularly with regard to the sex trade, the exploitation of vulnerable men, women and children," the pope told the Santa Marta Group.
The Santa Marta Group is an anti-trafficking initiative organized by the Catholic Bishops' Conference of England and Wales to bring together representatives of bishops' conferences and top national and international law enforcement officials to promote cooperation, particularly in identifying victims of trafficking and caring for them once they are rescued.
British Cardinal Vincent Nichols of Westminster, introducing the group to the pope, described human trafficking as "the darkest face of globalization."
The cardinal told reporters later there are more than 42 million people in slavery today.
Cressida Dick, commissioner of the London Metropolitan Police, told Catholic News Service she "absolutely" agrees with Pope Francis that citizens are encouraging, or at least tolerating, human trafficking by tolerating prostitution. She said her department has "well over 20 current, live operations targeting human trafficking. A large number of those relate to the sex trade."
The victims are mostly women and girls, "and the people paying them for their services are often oblivious to the history of how somebody ended up in that position," the commissioner said.
During the meeting at the Vatican Feb. 8-9, representatives of more than 30 countries shared what their governments and their Catholic communities are doing to prevent trafficking, rescue and assist victims and prosecute traffickers.
William Canny, executive director of the U.S. bishops' Migration and Refugee Services, told the Santa Marta Group that the church in the United States has been working to counter trafficking for some 20 years, with activities ranging from grass-roots advocacy to specialized assistance to victims of "this heinous crime."
Many diocesan Catholic Charities offices work directly with the Department of Homeland Security's investigative unit to ensure immediate assistance to those rescued from traffickers, he said. The Catholic Health Association has developed tools to help health care workers recognize possible victims of trafficking when they come to an emergency room, hospital or rural health clinic.
While Catholic agencies provide emergency assistance, shelter and support to rescued victims of trafficking, Canny said, the bishops' conference is now looking at how to promote "long-term restoration for survivors."
"The program will prepare victims of trafficking, whether U.S. citizens or foreign nationals, to enter employment through individual coaching, skill attainment" and education in preparing resumes and getting ready for job interviews, Canny said. "Victims of forced labor and commercial sexual exploitation deserve the chance to move beyond basic survival by achieving dignified employment and self-sufficiency."
Callista Gingrich, the U.S. ambassador to the Holy See, told the group the U.S. State Department, the Department of Homeland Security and the FBI have been devoting increasing resources to fighting human trafficking and have increased their partnerships with Catholic and other nongovernmental organizations.
"The traumatic experiences suffered by victims of human trafficking are beyond comprehension," she said. "It is crucial that law enforcement agencies develop strong and enduring partnerships with NGOs and faith-based organizations that are on the front lines of survivor support."
For Pope Francis and the Vatican, an important part of preventing trafficking is to open up more pathways to legal migration so that the very poor or people fearing persecution do not turn to traffickers in the first place.
Dick, the London police commissioner, said she would not comment on the politics of immigration policy, but insisted that when rescuing victims or taking their statements, the police must recognize that the person is a victim first of all. "If there are other matters revealed, for example immigration or crime, then that must be dealt with through the appropriate authorities, but we want to be supportive of the individual in the first instance."
By Cindy Wooden / Catholic News Service


text: We are interested in tales told using multiple media, including pictorial storytelling such as comics. The word "comics" is often used in a limited way to imply works of humour and stories for children and adolescents. The works we are proud to include here may be humorous, but may be serious; they may appeal to children, but they will often be aimed at people with a mature and complex outlook on life. In any case we trust that you will enjoy and be enriched by the creative works that we have gathered under this heading. The Adventures of Rocketship GingerThe rollicking adventures of a child of the universe. Bird Brains (The IDT Weblog)The cartoons and editorials of D.C. Simpson and friends. The Bunny People of Planet PynkA spin-off of Rocketship Ginger meant to be the introduction to a game. Anyone willing to invest? Freefall Robots and mutants and aliens, oh my! Silly adult humour by Mark Stanley. Ozy & Millie Charming and insightful humour from our very own award winning cartoonist, D.C. Simpson. StardropA charming science fiction story by Mark Oakley set on present day Earth. Unicorn JellyA beautiful, exciting, moving and funny tale of heart and intellect by Jennifer Diane Reitz. ZonieZone out under the hot Arizona sun with Zonie the chilli-loving coyote and his friends! Count Your SheepOkay, we are not mirroring this strip, but we would love to. Utterly adorable story about a girl and her imaginary sheep friend. You rock, Adrian Ramos! Convention reportsSan Diego Comic Con 1998San Diego Comic Con 1999Further Confusion 2000San Diego Comic Con 2000San Diego Comic Con 2001 |


text:
CD released by Samadhisound (sound-cd ss017) on 24.05.10.
To fans of free improvisation and the Japanese onkyo, or noise scene, Toshimaru Nakamura needs no introduction; to newcomers, the name of his instrument – the no-input mixing board – may sound forbidding, as if its output would sound more machine than music. But for over a decade, Nakamura has cultivated a world of tones from this unlikely instrument, both harsh and mesmerizing, humanist and expansive – with something to lure in music fans of any stripe.
Says founder of Samadhi Sound David Sylvian,"Egrets has Toshi's signature minimalist stamp but sonically there's a lot more variation to this work. … I have great admiration for Toshi, for his sense of discipline, his risk taking, his openness, generosity and intelligence."
Nakamura discovered the no-input mixing board while searching for a better balance between himself and his tools. After many "unhappy years" playing guitar in rock bands, he set that instrument aside. "I think I was not moving away from the guitar itself, but from my own attitude when I played the guitar. I had a problem with the idea that I have to be the one who starts the music. You have to play the guitar first, otherwise the music can't exist. ... Then at some point around 1997, I discovered that internal feedback within the mixing desk fit me very well. I think I was seeking an equal relationship with my instrument, instead of putting myself above my instrument. The instrument could lead me."
Starting with 2000's No-Input Mixing Board, Nakamura has explored the instrument's range in live settings around the world and in his own solo home recordings. When he's performing alone, Nakamura lets the mixing board fill the soundstage – for example on the opening track of Egrets, "Nimb number 42," where the tones resonate like a shell placed to your ear. Chimes, swells and scratching highs trade the spotlight on "Nimb number 44" before Nakamura dismisses them with a squeak of a knob, while "Nimb Number 43" builds in throbs and echoes before distintegrating beneath scratches and high tones.
Two guests join Nakamura on this release. "Semi" is a duo with acoustic guitarist Tetuzi Akiyama, a long-time collaborator who has performed with Nakamura since 1997. "Since we started to play together, we have been functioning as a unit to host guests to form a trio or quartet, sometimes larger. I think that has given a character to our duo. Observing ourselves, it seems like we don't play 'on' each other so much. Instead, we reserve some room for other musicians and listeners." Their duet is spacious, but complete; Akiyama's ringing guitar leaves wide spaces where Nakamura chatters and fizzes, quiet but busy like a bird circling a beheamoth.
By contrast, Nakamura had never worked with Arve Henriksen before a 2009 session in London, which was organized by David Sylvian during the recording of his audio installation, When We Return You Won't Recognize Us. Given a list of performers who were available to work with him, Nakamura chose Henriksen, who recorded duo and solo performances for this project. The in-demand trumpeter and co-founder of the acclaimed electroacoustic group Supersilent, Henriksen here sticks to breath sounds and instrument noises: we hear every exhalation and every click of his valves on "Heater/Refrigerator," while on "Tane" the two banter vigorously, bubbling ideas from the guts of one instrument to the other.
As Nakamura explains, "The instrument still surprises me. I work with analogue audio feedback, utilising inexpensive gears, so it is very difficult or impossible to control perfectly. But technique is not the most important matter. I care more about my relationship with the instrument than how to control it." Nakamura is modest and generous in his collaborations. And yet if Nakamura lacks the ego of a rock guitarist, Egrets demonstrates an uncompromising sensibility. His source materials are capricious but the pieces he constructs are impeccable. The instrument doesn't lead him; he strikes a balance with it, and he knows exactly when to agree with it.


text:
Need a guild? Find one!
Browse by our most popular games below or use the form to customize your search and find the right guild for you.
If you already have a Gamer Launch account connect your Facebook account on your user profile first before using Facebook connect to login. Otherwise you may end up with a new account.


text:
Prices incl. VAT plus shipping costs
Free of shipping costs!
Delivery time 14-28 Workdays***
Prices incl. VAT plus shipping costs
Free of shipping costs!
Delivery time 14-28 Workdays***
How tall should your sex doll be?:
Liana´s Ausführung auf den hier zu sehenden Bildern:
- Größe: 170 cm
- Brust: 79 cm
- Taille: 52 cm
- Hüfte: 92 cm
- Gewicht: 39 kg
- BH-Größe: B
- Schuhgröße: 37
- Konfektionsgröße: 34
- Perücke: #5, braun
- Augenfarbe: blau
- Fingernägel: french natur
- Fußnägel: rot
- Mund-Tiefe: 15 cm
- Vagina: fest eingebaut
- Vagina-Tiefe: 19,5 cm
- Vagina-Durchmesser: 2,5 cm
- Anal-Tiefe: 19,5 cm
- Anal-Durchmesser: 2 cm
Final inspection by DollsClub
No drop shippment
Free and double quality control
30 days return with unopened film
Exact day delivery by arrangement
Shipment with shipment tracking
Live Chat for instant help
Customs clearance by DollsClub
Discreet packaging
Brust: 62cm
Taille: 48cm
Hüfte: 70cm
Gewicht: 25 kg
Brust: 78 cm
Taille: 51 cm
Hüfte: 77 cm
Gewicht: 27 kg
Brust: 75cm
Taille: 51cm
Hüfte: 78cm
Gewicht: 28 kg
Brust: 90cm
Taille: 49cm
Hüfte: 84cm
Gewicht: 36 kg
Brust: 79cm
Taille: 61cm
Hüfte: 82cm
Brust: 90cm
Taille: 55cm
Hüfte: 82cm
Gewicht: 34 kg
Brust: 97cm
Taille: 52cm
Hüfte: 92cm
Gewicht: 39 kg
Produkt: | Liana Premium TPE sex doll |
Hersteller: | JY-Dolls |
Sexdollfinder bra size: | small breasts |
Sexdollfinder figure: | thin/normal |
Sexdollfinder hair: | brown-haired/red-haired |
Sexdollfinder bottom: | big butt |
Sexdollfinder type: | asian |
Pubic hair: | pubic hair #1, pubic hair #2, pubic hair #3 |
Eye color: | blue, brown, turquoise, yellow |
Vagina: | firmly installed, interchangeable |
Fingernails: | french nature, french pink, nature, pink, red |
Toenails: | black #13, dark pink #9, dark red #1, fuchsia #6, gold #5, green #11, grey #2, pink #8, red #7, rose #10, silver #4, white #3, yellow #12 |
Hair: | Wig#1, Wig#2, Wig#3, Wig#4, Wig#5, Wig#6, Wig#7, Wig#8, Wig#9, Wig#10, Wig#11, Wig#12 |
Material: | TPE (Thermoplastic Elastomers) |
Gender: | female |
Chest circumference in cm: | 62, 75, 78, 79, 90 |
Waist in cm: | 48, 49, 51, 55, 56, 61 |
Hip in cm: | 70, 77, 78, 82, 84 |
Weight in kg: | 25, 27, 28, 34, 35, 36 |
Skin color: | bright, nature, tanned |
Love holes: | anal, mouth, vagina |
Mouth depth in cm: | 15 |
Vagina depth in cm: | 19.5 |
Vagina diameter in cm: | 2.5 |
Anal depth in cm: | 19.5 |
Anal diameter in cm: | 2 |
What should you know about our JY sex doll Liana ?
A love doll of the brand JY-Doll captivates with a particularly favourable price, despite impressive workmanship and beautiful models. If you love women with large breasts, you should choose one of these premium products. The skin is pleasantly soft and feels wonderful. Your complexion and stature are absolutely flawless and will captivate you from the very first moment. The modern TPE silicone makes this love doll look particularly real, and it will feel like you have this relationship with a real woman.
A love doll of the manufacturer JY-Doll is very carefully processed, so that not only during love play almost all movements are possible. So you can satisfy her vaginally as well as anal and orally and in this way let all fantasies become reality with her. The most modern technology and years of experience were used in the production, and you will enjoy this quality very much.
With a Realdoll from this manufacturer you decide for perfect workmanship and a slightly higher weight than with a doll from WMdoll. And of course you can also choose between many different models. This takes your sensual pleasure to a whole new level.
It is always worth stopping by our shop, because our assortment offers you a large selection of these absolutely lifelike love dolls. With us you can always be sure of excellent quality and professional advice. We fulfil your wishes very reliably and discreetly. Of course we are also at your disposal for possible repairs at any time.
The fields marked with * are required.
surprise outfit
one wig
cleaning pump


text:
A 12-year-old girl has died days after she was thrown from the top of a car, where police say an intoxicated mom had her and other kids ride because they were wet from swimming.
The girl, Octavia Watkins, died at about 11:30 p.m. Wednesday night when she was removed from life support, Crowley police said. She had suffered severe head injuries in the fall last week and had been hospitalized since.
Police said Kisha Young, 39, let six children ride on the hood and trunk of her Chevrolet Malibu on June 17 because their clothes were wet. The group, including another adult, had been swimming at the Creekside Community Pool.
Police said Young was arrested and charged with intoxication assault, a third degree felony, injury to a child and DWI with a child. She posted $110,000 bond and was released from jail Friday.
Crowley police said they are working with the Tarrant County District Attorney's Office to determine future charges on the case.
Watkins' mother, who was an adult passenger in the car, could also be charged.
"The adults involved are responsible for the children, and whatever happens to them while they are in their care," said Crowley Police Officer CC Meadows.
Neighbors who witnessed the accident were sad to learn Watkins died.
Ellen Prince said Young did not even know the children had fallen from the back of her car until she reached the end of the street.
"We know better than to have kids riding on our car. I can't imagine a mother, if she was a mother, letting her kids out of the car and driving like that," Prince said.
Albert Garcia said he rushed to help Watkins when he saw her on the pavement.
"She was totally unconscious the whole time, so that was my main concern," he said. "I know the mom didn't do this on purpose. She was trying to have fun. But she needed to think this through a little bit more."
Marissa Gonzalez with Texas Child Protective Services said the surviving children are in the care of relatives and not their mothers. A CPS investigation is also underway about future custody of the children.
Funeral arrangements for the girl have not yet been revealed.
The latest news from around North Texas.
NBC 5's Ken Kalthoff contributed to this report.


text:
Beating The Blood-sugar Blues
By Anthony Almada, M.S.
Vanadium, a brilliant blue mineral named after the Norse goddess of beauty, has been a keen focus of diabetes research, even more so than chromium. The clinical human studies have shown doses of 75-300 mg per day of vanadyl sulfate (the most commonly tested form of vanadium) to produce moderate improvements in blood sugar and insulin actions. At doses above 75 mg, side effects—cramping, diarrhea and general GI discomfort—are not uncommon. However, these have been short-term studies, lasting no more than six weeks. The most recent study used 150 mg per day of vanadyl sulfate for six weeks in 11 Type II diabetics. Significant reductions in blood sugar, total cholesterol and LDL (bad) cholesterol were noted, apparently through improving the action of insulin in both liver and muscle tissue. The long-term safety of vanadium remains to be seen. This mineral appears to "seek" bone as a reservoir and may explain why the effects of vanadyl persist at least two weeks after supplementation ceases.
Nutrition and exercise biochemist Anthony Almada, M.S. has collaborated on more than 45 university-based studies and is founder and chief scientific officer of IMAGINutrition.


text:
In the Early Head Start program, we use various curriculums to meet the needs of our children and families.
The High/Scope curriculum is utilized in the center based and home based programs. In the High Scope approach to early childhood education, adults and children share control. The curriculum emphasizes active learning. The key principle of the High Scope approach is that children learn through play. The curriculum encourages both children and adults to initiate learning experiences. Through planning adults provide activities and generate strategies to challenge children's emerging abilities and to pursue their own interest. It helps adults to focus on developmental principles that encourage them to build on children's existing strengths and accomplishments. Developmentally appropriate activities are planned around key experiences. When we accept that learning comes from within, we achieve a critical balance in educating young children. The adult's role is to support and guide young children through their active learning adventures and experiences.


text:
Create a Website Account - Manage notification subscriptions, save form progress and more.
A permit is required for both temporary banner signs and permanent signs. We encourage you to review the Sign Ordinance before applying. When you are ready to apply, fill out the online application.
Show All Answers
For most fences, a permit is not required, but there are location and height requirements for fences. Please call the zoning office if you have questions.
Chickens are only allowed on properties that are zoned for Agriculture. Refer to the FAQ about finding your zoning district to determine whether you are allowed to keep chickens on your property.
Under some circumstances, you can operate a home occupation. Most home occupations are a home office, but as long as you can meet the requirements for a home occupation, you may complete an application and submit it to the revenue office.
We encourage you to visit the Report a Concern page on this website. If you do not have an account, you will need to create one. There is no cost for the account. Once you are logged in, choose Suspected Zoning Violation on the Report a Concern page to provide the information.
View the City of Pelham's zoning map. You can always call the zoning office to verify zoning if you are unsure.
Zoning helps communities make the best decisions on how land is used to ensure compatibility. At its best, it protects residential neighborhoods from being subjected to intensive commercial and industrial uses. In a nutshell, it keeps the city organized and balanced.
First, planning and zoning ensure that Pelham residents and business owners are healthy, safe, and thriving. Secondly, we desire to create residential communities that feel like home and are aesthetically pleasing. At the same time, commercial districts are planned in a manner that will be safe and appealing to the citizens while resulting in a growing economy.
The most common violations are rooted in concern for public safety. First, signs with a lot of movement or placed in the public right of way can distract drivers and possibly cause accidents. The second most common violation is illegal parking. Parking in one's yard or areas not approved for parking can pollute the groundwater and environment and can detract from the beauty of our neighborhoods and business districts.
We strive to develop relationships with residents and business owners. Doing so allows us to explain and educate them on the origin and purpose of the ordinance as it relates to the comprehensive plan. Most of the time that helps to de-escalate situations. Once we explain the big picture, most understand why we bring violations to their attention. We aim to communicate in person at first contact and give a reasonable timeframe to comply. When the deadline expires without compliance, we send a letter with a final deadline. If the property owner is still non-compliant after that deadline, the case goes to Pelham Municipal Court, where a judge may impose fines.


text:
All updates on new releases, tours and so on, as well as discography, audio, and videos can now be found here: https://webstology.wordpress.com/
This page will stay open as an archive only. Thanks!
Monday 15 May 2017
Friday 14 April 2017
Recent Press
Interview with 'A Jazz Noise':
Interview with 'Opduvel' (in Dutch):
DunningWebsterUnderwood 'Viol Of Acetate' reviewed in The Quietus:
Birchall / Cheetham / Webster / Willberg 'Plastic Knuckle' reviewed in The Quietus:
Birchall / Cheetham / Webster / Willberg 'Plastic Knuckle' and Cheetham / Webster / Willberg 'The Small Departs, The Great Approaches' reviewed in Dalston Sound:
Birchall / Smal / Webster 'Drop Out' reviewed in His Voice (in Czech):
Monday 10 April 2017
Drop Out
New cassette release on the Astral Spirits label from Austin, Texas. 'Drop Out' is a studio session with David Birchall (guitar) and Rogier Smal (drums) recorded on the last day of our UK tour last year.
"The nervy skronk of the first side has Webster spitting out staccato phrases, while Birchall switches between high-end slide squall reminiscent of Borbetomagus's Donald Miller, and lunging stoner riffage. Smal ramps it all up by hammering at his snare like a speed-addled carpenter, before dialling things back for a twitchy and atmospheric passage that ultimately takes off like peppercorns on a hot skillet." - Stewart Smith, The Quietus (full review)
Line-up: David Birchall - guitar, Rogier Smal - drums, Colin Webster - alto saxophone
alto sax,
astral spirits,
david birchall,
drop out,
free jazz,
new album,
rogier smal
Thursday 2 March 2017
5 Years Of Raw Tonk Records
Raw Tonk Records celebrates five years of existence this month with a series of events, including a short tour of Belgium and The Netherlands, mini festivals in London and Manchester, as well as gigs in Birmingham and Oslo.
On 21st March Raw Tonk takes over the long-running Fizzle night at The Lamp Tavern in Birmingham with sets from Webster/Holub duo and Ma/ti/om.
On 2nd April Raw Tonk artists will be performing at Cappelens Forslag in Oslo.
Finally, I was interviewed by Paul Margree for a label feature on his We Need No Swords podcast:
5 years of raw tonk,
raw tonk records,
the netherlands
Sunday 19 February 2017
Feature on Bandcamp Daily
I was recently interviewed by Danny Riley for a feature on Bandcamp Daily called 'New Directions in Sax'. Read the full article here: https://daily.bandcamp.com/2016/12/09/saxophone-feature/
(photo credit Peter Fay)
bandcamp daily,
new directions in sax,
Saturday 28 January 2017
Viol of Acetate
New split cassette release on the London based Lumen Lake label, 'Viol of Acetate' is a live album by DunningWebsterUnderwood recorded at Cafe Oto last year. The tape is split with Rutger Hauser who also performed on the same evening. The cassette release is a limited edition of 80 with multi-layered translucent artwork by John Harries.
Line-up: Graham Dunning - turntable and dubplates, Colin Webster - baritone saxophone, Sam Underwood - tuba.
Friday 23 December 2016
Plastic Knuckle
Line-up: David Birchall - guitar, Andrew Cheetham - drums, Colin Webster - alto and baritone saxophones, Otto Willberg - double bass.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)


text:
4125.0 - Gender Indicators, Australia, Jan 2012
ARCHIVED ISSUE Released at 11:30 AM (CANBERRA TIME) 07/02/2012
Page tools: Print Page Print All | ||||||||
Busy mums want more paid work Men and women spend similar time undertaking all forms of work (both paid and unpaid) but some mums want more paid work hours according to the Gender Indicators, Australia publication released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) today. The rate of underemployment is twice as high for women (8%) than for men (4%). In 2006 dads in full time employment with children under 15 years spent 10 hours 32 minutes a day (on average) in all forms of work, compared with 10 hours 47 minutes for mums employed full time. New ABS data shows in 2010-11 the underemployment rate for dads whose youngest child was under 6 years was 2.8%, while for mums it was 8.6%. When the youngest child was school-aged, the underemployment rate was much higher for mums at 10.2%. In 2010-11 men employed full-time spent 4 hours more per week working in employment than their female counterparts (41.3 compared to 37.2 hours). Mums with children under 6 years and employed full-time worked fewer hours in employment (33.1 hours) but their hours increased when their youngest child was of school age (37.7 hours). Fathers in full time employment worked in employment about the same hours, on average, as did all men employed full time. Women also volunteer more than men (38% compared to 34% in 2010). The rate was highest in women aged 45-54 years with school-aged children (10% compared to 3% for men with school-aged children). The second release of Gender Indicators, Australia, includes new data and commentaries representing the differences between men and women in the major areas of social concern for gender equality. New to this edition, a summary page of the key indicators of gender equality, and interactive graphs showing changes over time. To see the full range of indicators, and changes over time, see the full online product, Gender Indicators, Australia (cat. no. 4125.0). Media note: When reporting ABS data the Australian Bureau of Statistics (or ABS) must be attributed as the source. Document Selection These documents will be presented in a new window. |


text:
Tofu is a very common ingredient in Korean cuisine, and tofu jeon is a delicious way to eat it. Tofu and garlic go together well. Like my other recipes, it is a very simple and tasty dish to try. Recently, I have been posting many meat dishes, so I am very glad to post this vegetarian friendly recipe for you today. 😉
Yield: 20 Pieces
Short Korean Lesson
- Gam (감) = Persimmon
- Gang (강) = River
Video Instructions
Main Ingredients
- 1 Pack Firm Tofu (18 oz)
- ¼ Cup Flour
- 2 Eggs
- 3 Tbsp Minced Garlic
- 2 Tbsp Green Onion
- ½ Tbsp Red Hot Pepper
- ¾ tsp Salt
Rinse one pack of firm tofu in cold water once. Dry the tofu with a paper towel and then mash it with your hands or a fork. You will get about 1½ cups.
Mince 3 Tbsp worth of garlic, finely chop 2 Tbsp worth of green onion, and ½ Tbsp worth of red hot pepper.
Add 2 eggs, ¼ cup of flour, the chopped vegetables, and ¾ tsp of salt to the tofu. Mix everything together.
Put one spoonful of tofu mixture in a generously heated and oiled pan. Form it into a circle with your spoon.
Fry the tofu mixture on medium-high until both sides become golden brown. Do not flip them too often; flip when one side is done.
Reducing the salt, hot pepper, and garlic can turn this into a good snack or side dish for kids. In few minutes, you can prepare great food. It is delicious. Try it someday. 😉


text:
By Renford Reese, Ph.D: "12 Years a Slave" is the most important film since Roots on the subject of slavery. This Oscar-worthy film is unrelenting in its brutality and gruesomeness. It is a horror film based on the true story of Solomon Northup, a free-born black man who was drugged, kidnapped, and forced into slavery for 12 painful years. Northup was a successful violinist who lived in Saratoga Springs, New York with his wife and children. He was captured in 1841 and regained his freedom in 1853. Northup, brilliantly played by Chiwetel Ejiofor, was well-educated, played his violin at many well-known hotels, and worked in construction and carpentry before his capture.
I saw the movie early in its release and did not know what to expect. After 10 minutes, I found myself trapped. The indescribable brutality and callousness had me wanting to leave the theatre on multiple occasions. However, I knew I needed to endure the rawness of the film in order to tell others of its importance.
The film is important because rarely has Hollywood captured historic reality in such a profound way. The industry generally favors stories of entertainment value over all else. Quentin Tarantino's "Django Unchained" was a gruesome but entertaining depiction of slavery in which Django, played by Jamie Foxx, outsmarts and out-guns white slave owners and rides into the sunset victoriously–that is Hollywood, not historic reality.
Roots was a television mini-series that captured the grisly inhumanity of slavery. The most memorable scene in the film was when the overseer beat Kunte Kinte into saying his slave name (Toby). Those of us who have seen Roots know the pain we felt in watching this scene. But in Roots, the audience had the chance to see other non-brutal facets of slave life.
In watching "12 Years a Slave," there is no chance for you to escape the brutality of slave life. There is no chance to take a break from the verbal abuse, beatings, rapes, contradictions, and sheer evil of the institution. The brilliance of this film is in its ability to grip you from the beginning to the end and put you in that dehumanizing place and time. It puts you in the shackles of a once-free man and forces you to live his tragic story one brutal beating at a time.
This film is important because it gives us the capacity to examine the ubiquitous divisions in our nation today. We see the genesis of an "Us" vs. "Them" mindset and the legacy of racial hate, bigotry, and social injustice.
For African Americans, "12 Years a Slave" is important because it shows us why we have been locked in an identity crisis in this country since the Middle Passage. We see it in our youth who join gangs and kill each other over colors they wear and for protecting `turf' that they do not own. We see it in the over 50 percent dropout rates among young black men in our inner-city schools. Some 70 percent of black children are born out of wedlock. We also see this identity crisis in a number of other social ills plaguing the black community.
As the founder/director of the Prison Education Project, the biggest prison education program in the U.S., I could not help but see the striking similarities between "12 Years a Slave" and today's prison industrial complex. Young black men are six times more likely to be incarcerated for the same crime as their white counterparts. Mandatory minimum sentencing, the "Three Strikes Law," and a myriad of drug laws that evolved from the failed "War on Drugs" have resulted in a disproportionate number of black men serving an array disproportionate sentences. As in 1841, America has embraced noble principles but ignoble practices.
"12 Years a Slave" is important to watch in order for us to begin to empathize with the victims of social injustice in this nation. This film should inspire Americans to match our practices with our principles. The film should inspire all of us to confront our past and to examine our policies and behavior in the present and the future.
Renford Reese, Ph.D. is a political science professor at Cal Poly Pomona. He is the author of five books and the founder/director of the Prison Education Project: www.PrisonEducationProject.org
Source Los Angeles Daily News/Pasadena Star News Guest Columnist: Renford Reese, Ph.D.
TAN : Proudly Staying Devoted to our Purpose the need to Inform and Educate is stronger than ever .
Bridging Cultures Through Communication – Print | Online | Digital Media
Make a Difference be a Sponsor


text:
US vs UK
A US court has ruled that authorities cannot force people to incriminate themselves by divulging their encryption passwords.
This is in marked contrast to the UK, where the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act (RIPA) makes it a crime to decline to hand over all your incriminating files if the police demand it. If the case doesn't involve national security, you can be put in jail for two years. If it does, five years.
Of course, the authorities would only use that power if absolutely necessary to fight terrorism, right? Well, the first person to fall afoul of section III of RIPA was an animal rights protester. She claims she didn't have any encrypted files.
Got any old encrypted e-mails for which you no longer have the key? The RIPA has no limit, they can demand keys for files years old. Lost or forgotten the key? Someone sent you something encrypted with the wrong key? Off to jail you go.


text:
Take a look at this great video demo from our sister magazine Guitarist, which features a range of tones from Gibson's 2012 Les Paul Standard and Fender's 2012 American Standard Stratocaster and Telecaster guitars.
Tempted? If you want to find out more about any of the instruments featured, you can check out our full reviews of all of the instruments (the very same models that are in the video) on the links below...
Fender 2012 American Standard Stratocaster review
Fender 2012 American Standard Telecaster review
Gibson 2012 Les Paul Standard review


text: Cordon BleuCordon Bleu : PhrasesMeaning: High quality, especially of cooking. Example: Origin: French for 'blue ribbon'. The Cordon Bleu was the highest order of chivalry under the Bourbon kings. It has since been used for other first-class distinctions. The term has migrated into the language as a figurative acclamation rather than actual decoration for high quality, especially for chefs. It appears in English as early as 1727 in this quotation from Philip Quarll: "He meets with several Noblemen, some with a blew Cordoon." ...and again, not much later, in this slightly easier to decipher item from the letters of Horace Walpole, 1769: "Everybody rushes in, Princes of the blood, cordons bleus, abbés, housemaids." In 1827 a cookbook called 'Le Cordon bleu ou nouvelle cuisinière bourgeoise' was published in Paris. In 1895 a weekly newsletter called 'La Cuisinière Cordon-bleu' was first published. It included training via shared recipes and techniques written by professional chefs. Cordon Bleu cookery classes began in 1896, at Paris's Palais Royal. It is also used more recently as an exclamation mimicking the similar 'Gordon Bennett'. This was popularized and almost certainly originates in the popular UK television comedy 'Only Fools and Horses', written by John Sullivan. The comic element in that was a running gag about the lead character's pretentious and hopeless attempts to affect sophistication by using French phrases. Along the same lines, the phase is the source of a nice, if sexist, joke. "My wife's cooking - Cordon bleu? It should be cordoned off." Phrases Index |


text:
Last month, the Shelburne Museum collaborated with the Alliance Française of the Lake Champlain Region and Richard Gliech Translator, LLC in preparation for an exhibit of its singular collection of French Impressionist paintings. Richard Gliech worked closely with Margaret Burgess, curator of In a New Light: French Impressionism Arrives in America, to provide French-language descriptions… Read more »
Posts Tagged: localization
Richard Gliech Translator, LLC joins Lake Champlain Regional Chamber of Commerce
November 6, 2013
Find Richard Gliech Translator, LLC's French translation services listed on http://www.vermont.org/, the Lake Champlain Regional Chamber of Commerce's web directory. Richard Gliech Translator, LLC offers English to French translation, consulting and interpreting services to clients in Vermont and nationwide.
Richard Gliech Translator, LLC tables at Renewable Energy Vermont annual conference and expo
October 29, 2013
Richard Gliech Translator, LLC tabled at Renewable Energy Vermont's 2013 conference and exposition, a meeting of local minds and businesses seeking to create sustainable, community-based, renewable solutions for Vermont's energy future. With much of state's power currently being supplied by hydroelectric dams located in Quebec, Canada, French is at the heart of Vermont's transition toward… Read more »
Burlington, Honfleur rekindle historic ties with Friendship Agreement
July 16, 2013
Members of Honfleur delegation pose with Vermont officials and Burlington sister-city committee. From left to right: Christine Mas, Lisa Schamberg, Lise Verroneau, Honfleur MR. Michel Lamarre and wife Corinne Lamarre, VT Sen. Patrick Leahy and wife Marcelle Leahy-Pomerleau, Burlington MR. Miro Weinberger, Ernie Pomerleau, CG. Fabien Fieschi, Dana vanderHeyden, Doreen Craft and Richard Gliech…. Read more »
Family Affair: Sarah Gliech joins Richard Gliech Translator, LLC
July 15, 2013
Richard Gliech Translator, LLC welcomes Sarah Gliech to the team as Project Coordinator. Sarah, Richard's daughter, recently graduated from McGill University with a BA in English Literature and resides in Burlington, VT.
Richard Gliech presents at 2012 ATA Annual Conference
November 3, 2012
Richard Gliech presented before an audience of professional translators, translation bureau representatives, and other language service providers at the American Translators Association's 2012 Annual Conference in San Diego, California. Each year, the ATA Annual Conference attracts more than one thousand language service professionals from all over the United States and neighboring nations. Richard's presentation, "A… Read more »
Richard Gliech joins Alliance Française of the Lake Champlain Region
September 10, 2012
This month, Richard Gliech joined the Alliance Française of the Lake Champlain Region (AFLCR). Based in Burlington, Vermont, the AFLCR facilitates spaces, events, activities, and services to generate French cultural opportunities and awareness for communities of the Lake Champlain Region. The AFLCR is affiliated with the Federation of Alliances Françaises USA, which, according to the… Read more »
International relations: Committee to see Burlington, VT and Honfleur, France to Sister City status
March 21, 2012
Richard Gliech has taken on the role of Corresponding Secretary of the Burlington-Honfleur Sister City Committee, a Vermont-based group established this month to facilitate the formation of official cultural and economic exchanges between Burlington, Vermont's most populous city, and Honfleur, Normandy. Honfleur is the French port city from which Samuel de Champlain historically set sail… Read more »
Burlington, VT adopts "French-friendly" resolution
August 16, 2011
Burlington, Vermont city council unanimously voted this month to adopt a non-binding resolution encouraging the city's hospitality and retail businesses to incorporate more French into signage and daily operations. This resolution aims to increase Burlington's accessibility for francophone tourists, many of whom travel from neighboring Québec. Canadian tourists account for more than 18% of visits… Read more »